Lallu Singh, the incumbent Faizabad MP from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conceded defeat to the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Awadhesh Prasad on Tuesday. “Hum aapka samman nahi bacha paaye (we could not save your respect),” he said. Faizabad is the district which encompasses the city of Ayodhya, where the BJP’s major poll plank, Ram Mandir, was inaugurated in January. Interestingly, the district itself was renamed as Ayodhya in 2018 but the Lok Sabha seat is still called Faizabad.
SP Candidate leads with 10,000 votes
More than five hours after counting started, BJP’s candidate Lallu Singh was seen trailing behind Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Awadhesh Prasad. The lead margin was around 10,000 votes. The BJP had looked to bask in the glory of the inauguration of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, held on January 22. The spectacular opening of the grand temple was a part of the BJP’s manifesto in the previous election.
Meanwhile, the saffron party is also leading in neighbouring Varanasi, which is one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh and among the 543 seats in India, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi has won from the constituency for two consecutive terms – 2014 and 2019 and is also the BJP candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections 2024.